SISTERS (R)
Released by Universal Pictures
Reviewed by Adam Mast
“Saturday Night Live” buddies Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have come together for SISTERS, a raunchy comedy that is decidedly edgier than BABY MAMA. It’s also longer. Much longer. Too long.
In SISTERS, Fey and Poehler are Kate and Maura Ellis, a misguided pair of siblings who take great offense when they discover that their parents (played by James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) are about to sell the home where they grew up. In an act of defiance, Kate and Maura do what any pair of sisters in their mid-40s would do upon learning that their childhood home is about to be put on the market: They throw a raging party at the house and invite all their friends in an effort to reconnect with their reckless youth.
Single mom Kate is the loose cannon type, while recent divorcee Maura is more of the reserved type, but one thing becomes perfectly clear: Maura is easily influenced by her trouble-making sister. Eventually, these siblings learn a little more about each other, all while destroying their old sanctuary in the process.
Listen, Fey and Poehler have terrific chemistry, they really do. They’re self-effacing and not at all afraid to look silly, and there’s no doubt that they have good moments here both together and as individuals. An extended scene in which Maura has trouble pronouncing an Asian pedicurist’s name is hilarious, and likewise, a scene in which Kate tries a dress on backwards in a clothing store is equally hilarious.
Overall, though, at two hours, SISTERS feels punishingly long, and the central romance between Maura and construction worker (Ike Barinholtz) doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot. I’ll grant the pair their encounter with a ballerina music box, though. Pretty damn funny.
Ultimately, there are serious lulls between laughs in SISTERS. The party itself takes up half the film’s running time during which the proceedings feel like an over-bloated, improvisational free-for-all.
In addition to Brolin and Wiest, folks like Maya Rudolph, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, Rachel Dratch, and TRAINWRECK scene-stealer John Cena show up throughout the film attempting to do their best at bringing the funny, and while most of these performers do manage to get a couple of decent laughs in there, there’s absolutely no reason that this movie couldn’t have been trimmed down to a more acceptable 90 minutes.
Again, Fey and Poehler are appealing, even if it was a bit disconcerting hearing a generally sexy but innocent Fey drop F-bombs left and right. In the end, though, this attempt at Judd Apatow-level character and a BRIDESMAIDS mixture of raunch and charm is a little too loosey-gooey and long-winded for its own good.
